Green business and communities must partner to save the environment

Green business and communities must partner to save the environment

Raising awareness, building capacity, and providing essential knowledge and resources can empower local communities. (SPA)
Raising awareness, building capacity, and providing essential knowledge and resources can empower local communities. (SPA)
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Experts and advanced technologies can only do so much to protect the environment. Effective stewardship of a natural habitat hinges on the involvement of the people who live and work there.

Communities understand local environmental issues from firsthand experience. They are personally affected. They are the ones with skin in the game.

Red Sea Global, the company I work for, is creating luxury resorts on the western coast of Saudi Arabia, helping to put the Kingdom on the global tourism map.

Upon completion, our flagship destinations — the Red Sea and AMAALA — will be powered exclusively by renewable energy, with some 760,000 solar panels already in place.

We aim to achieve a 30 percent net conservation benefit at our locations by 2040. We are gardening corals to help replenish reefs and we have planted more than 1 million mangrove tree seedlings, one of nature’s best carbon sinks, out of a planned 50 million by 2030.

To sustain and nurture our environment, we need to do much more than obey rules and regulations. We must involve the farmers, fishermen and townspeople who are our neighbors.

Our approach must extend beyond mere engagement with local communities; we must empower them. By helping them find their voice and express their wants and concerns, we can forge the partnerships that are vital for protecting and enhancing our environment, while we also try to improve people’s lives.

It is essential that we empower local communities, enabling them to become our genuine partners in regenerating our natural habitats.

Raed Albasseet

At Red Sea Global, we distill this concept into a core principle that directs all our actions: We aim to serve both people and planet. It is an ambitious goal and we know we cannot achieve it on our own. That is why we advocate for a collective approach and the forging of strong partnerships.

Our collaborations range from grassroots to strategic, involving the private sector, government agencies, such as Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Environmental Compliance, and a broad spectrum of civil society and nonprofit organizations.

Empowering local communities means raising their awareness, building their capacity, and linking them with essential knowledge and resources. A good example of such empowerment is Tamala, the farmers’ co-operative that Red Sea Global co-founded.

In 2021, we approached some of the 2,000-plus farmers in our areas, looking for supplies of fresh vegetables and fruits for our future hotels. These farmers told us about the many challenges they faced, from overpriced fertilizers and a lack of technical expertise, to limited transportation that made it hard for them to sell their produce.

So we stepped in, helping to establish Tamala in 2022. Today, local farms are delivering high-quality cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables directly to The Red Sea destination. Traveling from farm to table, this produce leaves a much smaller carbon footprint than would be the case if we had to truck it north from our supply hub in Jeddah.

Tamala also employs an agricultural engineer who advises farmers about producing to higher and more sustainable standards. Going forward, this should help ensure that local farms use water, chemicals and fertilizers more wisely.

Our partnership with local farmers through Tamala is a success because we listened to local communities. We collaborated with them to solve their challenges and mitigate environmental impacts.

A much different example of local empowerment was Red Sea Global’s project in January to restore traditional sailboats in the town of Umluj. Our aim was to help the community revive and preserve its rich maritime heritage.

The month-long event was supervised by local fishermen and their families. We ensured that the boat restorers followed the best environmental practices. A private-sector partner even supplied environmentally friendly paint for the restoration.

Yet another initiative for community empowerment is a mobile phone app that we designed for people living near The Red Sea destination. It is an open, two-way communication channel that lets communities share feedback, suggestions and complaints directly with us. The app is called Jewar, which translates roughly as “Good Neighbor.” Even though Jewar is still in its beta phase, almost 17,000 people have already downloaded it.

We used this app to notify the Umluj community about our sailboat restoration project. We can also use it to announce environmental campaigns, such as the one we held in December to clean up trash.

These diverse examples — a farmers’ co-operative, the restoration of sailboats, and a mobile phone app — show that the only limit to community engagement is imagination.

Yet, to achieve truly outstanding success, we must go beyond the basics. It is essential that we empower local communities, enabling them to become our genuine partners in regenerating our natural habitats.

Like any successful partnership, the grassroots initiatives that can protect the environment develop from trust and respect. Our experience at Red Sea Global has taught us to act with humility and listen to local communities. If more of us can do that, all of us — and our environment — will be better off for it.

Raed Albasseet is the group chief environment and sustainability officer of Red Sea Global, the developer behind The Red Sea and AMAALA, two tourism projects on the northwestern coast of Saudi Arabia.

 

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

UN envoy condemns intense wave of Israeli airstrikes on Syria

UN envoy condemns intense wave of Israeli airstrikes on Syria
Updated 7 min 40 sec ago
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UN envoy condemns intense wave of Israeli airstrikes on Syria

UN envoy condemns intense wave of Israeli airstrikes on Syria
  • UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, denounced the strikes
  • “I strongly condemn Israel’s continued and escalating violations of Syria’s sovereignty, including multiple airstrikes in Damascus and other cities,” Pedersen wrote

HARASTA, Syria: The United Nations special envoy for the Syrian Arab Republic condemned Saturday an intense wave of Israeli airstrikes as Israel said its forces were on the ground in Syria to protect the Druze minority sect following days of clashes with Syrian pro-government gunmen.
The late Friday airstrikes were reported in different parts of the capital, Damascus, and its suburbs, as well as southern and central Syria, local Syrian media reported. They came hours after Israel’s air force struck near Syria’s presidential palace after warning Syrian authorities not to march toward villages inhabited by Syrian Druze.
Israel’s military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X the strikes targeted a military post and anti-aircraft units. He also said the Israeli troops in Southern Syria were “to prevent any hostile force from entering the area or Druze villages” and that five Syrian Druze wounded in the fighting were transported for treatment in Israel.
Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported Saturday that four were wounded in central Syria, and that the airstrikes hit the eastern Damascus suburb of Harasta as well as the southern province of Daraa and the central province of Hama.
UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, denounced the strikes on X.


“I strongly condemn Israel’s continued and escalating violations of Syria’s sovereignty, including multiple airstrikes in Damascus and other cities,” Pedersen wrote Saturday, calling for an immediate cease of attacks and for Israel to stop “endangering Syrian civilians and to respect international law and Syria’s sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and independence.”
Four days of clashes between pro-government gunmen and Druze fighters have left nearly 100 people dead and raised fears of deadly sectarian violence.
The clashes are the worst between forces loyal to the government and Druze fighters since the early December fall of President Bashar Assad, whose family ruled Syria with an iron grip for more than five decades.
Israel has its own Druze community and officials have said they would protect the Druze of Syria and warned Islamic militant groups from entering predominantly Druze areas. Israeli forces have carried out hundreds of airstrikes since Assad’s fall and captured a buffer zone along the Golan Heights.
The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria.
Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.


Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins a second three-year term

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins a second three-year term
Updated 15 min 2 sec ago
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Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins a second three-year term

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins a second three-year term
  • Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded defeat in Saturday’s election
  • The Australian Electoral Commission’s projections gave Albanese’s ruling center-left Labour Party 70 seats

MELBOURNE: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded defeat in Saturday’s election, saying, “We didn’t do well enough during this campaign, that much is obvious tonight, and I accept full responsibility for that.”
“Earlier on, I called the prime minister to congratulate him on his success tonight. It’s a historic occasion for the Labour Party and we recognize that,” he added.
The Australian Electoral Commission’s projections gave Albanese’s ruling center-left Labour Party 70 seats and the conservative opposition coalition 24 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form governments. Unaligned minor parties and independent candidates appeared likely to win 13 seats.
Australian Broadcasting Corp. respected election analyst Antony Green predicted Labor would win 76 seats, the coalition 36 and unaligned lawmakers 13. Green said Labor would form a majority or minority government and that the coalition had no hope of forming even a minority government.
Energy policy and inflation have been major issues in the campaign, with both sides agreeing the country faces a cost of living crisis.
Opposition leader branded ‘DOGE-y Dutton’
Dutton’s conservative Liberal Party blames government waste for fueling inflation and increasing interest rates, and has pledged to ax more than one in five public service jobs to reduce government spending.
While both say the country should reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Dutton argues that relying on more nuclear power instead of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind turbines would deliver less expensive electricity.
The ruling center-left Labour Party has branded the opposition leader “DOGE-y Dutton” and accused his party of mimicking US President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency.
Labor argues Dutton’s administration would slash services to pay for its nuclear ambitions.
“We’ve seen the attempt to run American-style politics here of division and pitting Australians against each other and I think that’s not the Australian way,” Albanese said.
Albanese also noted that his government had improved relations with China, which removed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers that had cost Australian exporters 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year since Labor came to power in 2022.
A cost of living crisis as the country faces generational change
The election is taking place against a backdrop of what both sides of politics describe as a cost of living crisis.
Foodbank Australia, the nation’s largest food relief charity, reported 3.4 million households in the country of 27 million people experienced food insecurity last year.
That meant Australians were skipping meals, eating less or worrying about running out of food before they could afford to buy more.
The central bank reduced its benchmark cash interest rate by a quarter percentage point in February to 4.1 percent in an indication that the worst of the financial hardship had passed. The rate is widely expected to be cut again at the bank’s next board meeting on May 20, this time to encourage investment amid the international economic uncertainty generated by Trump’s tariff policies.
Both campaigns have focused on Australia’s changing demographics. The election is the first in Australia in which Baby Boomers, born between born between the end of World War II and 1964, are outnumbered by younger voters.
Both campaigns promised policies to help first-home buyers buy into a property market that is too expensive for many.
The election could produce a minority government
Going into the election, Labor held a narrow majority of 78 seats in a 151-seat House of Representatives. There will be 150 seats in the next parliament due to redistributions.
A loss of more than two seats could force Labor to attempt to form a minority government with the support of unaligned lawmakers.
There was a minority government after the 2010 election, and the last one before that was during World War II.
The last time neither party won a majority, it took 17 days after the polls closed before key independent lawmakers announced they would support a Labor administration.


KSrelief, UN Women empower displaced Yemenis

KSrelief, UN Women empower displaced Yemenis
Updated 23 min 5 sec ago
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KSrelief, UN Women empower displaced Yemenis

KSrelief, UN Women empower displaced Yemenis

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s aid agency KSrelief has launched a project to protect and empower women affected by gender-based violence in Yemen’s Aden and Taiz governorates.

The project is being implemented in cooperation with UN Women and Yemen’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Over 12 months, it will directly benefit 18,000 displaced women and survivors of violence, as well as 325 frontline workers in safe spaces and protection centers. It also aims to indirectly impact about 126,000 individuals.

The initiative seeks to enhance protection for women and girls, build the capacity of workers handling violence cases, expand psychosocial and legal support, and raise community awareness through women’s rights education campaigns.

UN Women Yemen representative Dina Zorba thanked Saudi Arabia, through KSrelief, for its generous support and humanitarian vision prioritizing women’s empowerment.

She said that the project went beyond protection services, offering an integrated approach to restoring dignity, enhancing resilience and empowering women as partners in peace-building and recovery.

Meanwhile, KSrelief has launched another project to distribute 4,012 food baskets to the neediest individuals across several districts in Yemen’s Hadramout governorate, benefiting 28,084 people.

Hadramout Undersecretary for Valley and Desert Affairs Amer Al-Amri praised KSrelief’s pioneering humanitarian role and the Kingdom’s support across various humanitarian sectors in Yemen.

This effort is part of Saudi Arabia’s broader relief projects to bridge the food gap in Yemen and improve quality of life.


Groups fear Israeli proposal for controlling aid in Gaza will forcibly displace people

Groups fear Israeli proposal for controlling aid in Gaza will forcibly displace people
Updated 22 min 27 sec ago
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Groups fear Israeli proposal for controlling aid in Gaza will forcibly displace people

Groups fear Israeli proposal for controlling aid in Gaza will forcibly displace people
  • Israel has not detailed any of its proposals publicly or put them down in writing
  • “Israel has the responsibility to facilitate our work, not weaponize it,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN agency

TEL AVIV: Israel has blocked aid from entering Gaza for two months and says it won’t allow food, fuel, water or medicine into the besieged territory until it puts in place a system giving it control over the distribution.
But officials from the UN and aid groups say proposals Israel has floated to use its military to distribute vital supplies are untenable. These officials say they would allow military and political objectives to impede humanitarian goals, put restrictions on who is eligible to give and receive aid, and could force large numbers of Palestinians to move — which would violate international law.
Israel has not detailed any of its proposals publicly or put them down in writing. But aid groups have been documenting their conversations with Israeli officials, and The Associated Press obtained more than 40 pages of notes summarizing Israel’s proposals and aid groups’ concerns about them.
Aid groups say Israel shouldn’t have any direct role in distributing aid once it arrives in Gaza, and most are saying they will refuse to be part of any such system.
“Israel has the responsibility to facilitate our work, not weaponize it,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN agency that oversees the coordination of aid Gaza.
“The humanitarian community is ready to deliver, and either our work is enabled ... or Israel will have the responsibility to find another way to meet the needs of 2.1 million people and bear the moral and legal consequences if they fail to do so,” he said.
None of the ideas Israel has proposed are set in stone, aid workers say, but the conversations have come to a standstill as groups push back.
The Israeli military agency in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, known as COGAT, did not respond to a request for comment and referred AP to the prime minister’s office. The prime minister’s office did not respond either.
Since the beginning of March, Israel has cut off Gaza from all imports, leading to what is believed to be the most severe shortage of food, medicine and other supplies in nearly 19 months of war with Hamas. Israel says the goal of its blockade is to pressure Hamas to free the remaining 59 hostages taken during its October 2023 attack on Israel that launched the war.
Israel says it must take control of aid distribution, arguing without providing evidence that Hamas and other militants siphon off supplies. Aid workers deny there is a significant diversion of aid to militants, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution.
Alarm among aid groups
One of Israel’s core proposals is a more centralized system — made up of five food distribution hubs — that would give it greater oversight, aid groups say.
Israel has proposed having all aid sent through a single crossing in southern Gaza and using the military or private security contractors to deliver it to these hubs, according to the documents shared with AP and aid workers familiar with the discussions. The distribution hubs would all be south of the Netzarim Corridor that isolates northern Gaza from the rest of the territory, the documents say.
One of the aid groups’ greatest fears is that requiring Palestinians to retrieve aid from a small number of sites — instead of making it available closer to where they live — would force families to move to get assistance. International humanitarian law forbids the forcible transfer of people.
Aid officials also worry that Palestinians could end up permanently displaced, living in “de facto internment conditions,” according to a document signed by 20 aid groups operating in Gaza.
The hubs also raise safety fears. With so few of them, huge crowds of desperate Palestinians will need to gather in locations that are presumably close to Israeli troops.
“I am very scared about that,” said Claire Nicolet, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders.
There have been several occasions during the war when Israeli forces opened fire after feeling threatened as hungry Palestinians crowded around aid trucks. Israel has said that during those incidents, in which dozens died, many were trampled to death.
Given Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people, global standards for humanitarian aid would typically suggest setting up about 100 distribution sites — or 20 times as many as Israel is currently proposing — aid groups said.
Aside from the impractical nature of Israel’s proposals for distributing food, aid groups say Israel has yet to address how its new system would account for other needs, including health care and the repair of basic infrastructure, including water delivery.
“Humanitarian aid is more complex than food rations in a box that you pick up once a month,” said Gavin Kelleher, who worked in Gaza for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Aid boxes can weigh more than 100 pounds, and transportation within Gaza is limited, in part because of shortages of fuel.
Experts say Israel is concerned that if Hamas seizes aid, it will then make the population dependent on the armed group in order to access critical food supplies. It could use income from selling the aid to recruit more fighters, said Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at two Israeli think tanks, the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute.
Private military contractors
As aid groups push back against the idea of Israel playing a direct distribution role within Gaza, Israel has responded by exploring the possibility of outsourcing certain roles to private security contractors.
The aid groups say they are opposed to any armed or uniformed personnel that could potentially intimidate Palestinians or put them at risk.
In the notes seen by AP, aid groups said a US-based security firm, Safe Reach Solutions, had reached out seeking partners to test an aid distribution system around the Netzarim military corridor, just south of Gaza City, the territory’s largest.
Aid groups urged each other not to participate in the pilot program, saying it could set a damaging precedent that could be repeated in other countries facing crises.
Safe Reach Solutions did not respond to requests for a comment.
Whether Israel distributes the aid or employs private contractors to it, aid groups say that would infringe on humanitarian principles, including impartiality and independence.
A spokesperson for the EU Commission said private companies aren’t considered eligible humanitarian aid partners for its grants. The EU opposes any changes that would lead to Israel seizing full control of aid in Gaza, the spokesperson said.
The US State Department declined to comment on ongoing negotiations.
Proposals to restrict who can deliver and receive aid
Another concern is an Israeli proposal that would allow authorities to determine if Palestinians were eligible for assistance based on “opaque procedures,” according to aid groups’ notes.
Aid groups, meanwhile, have been told by Israel that they will need to re-register with the government and provide personal information about their staffers. They say Israel has told them that, going forward, it could bar organizations for various reasons, including criticism of Israel, or any activities it says promote the “delegitimization” of Israel.
Arwa Damon, founder of the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance, says Israel has increasingly barred aid workers from Gaza who had previously been allowed in. In February, Damon was denied access to Gaza, despite having entered four times previously since the war began. Israel gave no reason for barring her, she said.
Aid groups are trying to stay united on a range of issues, including not allowing Israel to vet staff or people receiving aid. But they say they’re being backed into a corner.
“For us to work directly with the military in the delivery of aid is terrifying,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead for Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. “That should worry every single Palestinian in Gaza, but also every humanitarian worker.”


‘Unremitting violence’ against Myanmar civilians must end, says UN rights chief

‘Unremitting violence’ against Myanmar civilians must end, says UN rights chief
Updated 27 min 33 sec ago
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‘Unremitting violence’ against Myanmar civilians must end, says UN rights chief

‘Unremitting violence’ against Myanmar civilians must end, says UN rights chief
  • More than 200 civilians were killed in airstrikes last month after March’s devastating earthquake killed at least 3,800
  • Warring factions in civil war launched ‘relentless attacks’ despite month-long ceasefire

NEW YORK CITY: Civilians in war-torn Myanmar are facing “unremitting violence” despite a month-long ceasefire that was reached in the wake of March’s devastating earthquake, the UN’s human rights chief has said.

It comes after the country’s military regime launched at least 243 attacks since the March 28 earthquake.

More than 200 civilians were reportedly killed in the strikes.

“Amid so many crises around the world, the unbearable suffering of the people in Myanmar cannot be forgotten,” Volker Turk said on Friday.

“The vast majority of attacks happened after April 2 when the Myanmar military and the National Unity Government announced unilateral ceasefires,” he added.

The earthquake in March killed more than 3,800 people and decimated infrastructure across the country.

More than 55,000 homes were damaged and destroyed across several regions of Myanmar.

The disaster compounded an already dire humanitarian situation in the Southeast Asian country, with more than one-third of the population of almost 20 million people requiring assistance even before the earthquake.

The country’s military regime and the opposition National Unity Government announced a temporary ceasefire after the disaster.

It was extended in mid-April and expired on April 30.

Civil society sources recorded repeat violations of the ceasefire by the military, including numerous attacks on civilian rescuers shortly after the earthquake.

Myanmar’s civil war, which began in 2021, has killed almost 80,000 people.

“Families already displaced by years of conflict now face early torrential rains, extreme heat and rising risk of disease” in the wake of the earthquake, the UN said.

According to a World Health Organization report published on Friday, more than 450,000 people in Myanmar require critical health services, but only about 33,600 have been reached.

Turk warned that the “relentless attacks” carried out by warring parties in the country are “affecting a population already heavily beleaguered and exhausted by years of conflict.”

The fighting is also disrupting efforts to deliver essential aid to people across Myanmar, he added.

“International law is clear that humanitarian aid must be able to reach those in need without impediment,” Turk said.

“This is the time to put people first, to prioritize their human rights and humanitarian needs, and to achieve a peaceful resolution to this crisis.”

UN officials in Myanmar have also sounded the alarm on the deteriorating situation in the country.

Marcoluigi Corsi, humanitarian and resident coordinator ad interim for Myanmar, spoke to the press in New York City via video link from Yangon on Thursday.

One month on from the earthquake, “the suffering is immense and the stakes are very high,” he said.

Corsi called on the international community to urgently deliver their pledged aid amounts, and that “without timely action, the crisis would get worse.”

Early last month, the UN and its humanitarian partners launched a $275 million appeal as an addition to a major humanitarian strategy to reach about 1.1 million people in need across Myanmar.

Yet the appeal has only received $34 million in pledges, Corsi said, adding: “Lives depend on our collective commitment to delivering the support that is desperately needed … the time to act is now.”